Leaders of 16 major business chambers and associations on Sunday urged the deferment of Bangladesh's graduation from the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), saying the country requires more preparation for the transition to the developing country category.
They urged the government to seek a three- to five-year deferment of the scheduled graduation in November 2026.
Some major sectors, such as garments and pharmaceuticals, may face difficulties after graduation as the country will lose preferential market access, said Mahbubur Rahman, president of the International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICC-B), at a joint press conference at the InterContinental Dhaka.
Rahman spoke on behalf of all other business chambers and trade bodies.
Citing examples, he said the Maldives deferred its graduation for eight years while Botswana took 20 years. Similarly, Vanuatu and Bhutan also postponed their transitions, lessons from which Bangladesh can draw for a smoother graduation.
He said businesses are seeking more time to secure trade deals with the European Union, United Kingdom, ASEAN, and Gulf countries to offset tariff shocks from the US. They also want to drive export diversification into pharmaceuticals, IT, leather, agro-processing, and light engineering.
"The economy is heavily affected by external debt stress, financial strain, declining inflow of foreign direct investment, global trade tensions, climate pressures, electricity and gas constraints, logistics bottlenecks, devaluation of the local currency, and the economic pressures after the July 2024 uprising," he said in his written speech.
"So Bangladesh needs to improve these areas before graduation," Rahman added.
"Let this be clear that graduation is certain, but success is not guaranteed. It depends on how urgently and collectively we act."
He also said the entire private sector wants the deferment of LDC graduation until 2032 and is requesting the government to pursue it.
